Ecosystem Guide
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The Coral reef Ecosystem involves an off shore salt water environment in and around a coral reef.
from: EnvironmentSense.comThe coral reef ecosystem is located around a living coral reef. The coral reef ecosystem specifically identifies life forms found in the coral reef environment.
The life forms that live in the coral reef ecosystem have adapted to life in a salt water environment. Coral reef ecosystem topography involves the reef from the deepest depths of the living coral to the islands of coral sand that is formed around reefs. It can include
Coral reef ecosystems may have similar conditions as other aquatic ecosystems underlying criteria for classification, but their life forms are able to exist in the symbiotic relationships needed between coral reef ecosystem in order to sustain life. In all the warm oceans of the world the coral reef ecosystem offers a diverse choice of issues for life forms and plant life to deal with.
In studies of coral reef ecosystem, the predatory nature of some forms of life will mark the food chain of the particular area. Whales and dolphins exist in the coral reef ecosystem. In the coral reef ecosystem the food chain begins with the largest predatory mammals and fish and will continue down through the strata of life forms to the smallest poly and coral life. They make the top of the food chain with fish such as sharks and large predators like turtles and sting rays.
Without the tides, the currents and the sand bars or rock reefs the plants could not exist. Without the movement of schools of fish, jelly fish, rays, eels and turtles, the levels of life would not remain in balance. The food chain in the coral reef ecosystem consists of smaller fish and crustaceans. It is the way that these creatures exist among the plant life and coral formations that make up the unique relationships in the coral reef ecosystem. Without plant life or plankton the larger species could not exist.
The impact of human activity on the coral reef ecosystem may not at first be discernable, but study would give an idea of how man has changed the balance of life in any aquatic ecosystem. When looking at the coral reef ecosystem it is important to understand the changes that have taken place over the last hundred years. Not only through the act of fishing, does human activity impact on the coral reef ecosystem, but activities such as fertilization of crops can effect the delicate balance in the marine environment. Toxins washing into the tidal zones, plastics floating through a marine ecosystem, long lines, waste material and oil spills can damage a fragile coral reef ecosystem.
Taking care of the coral reef ecosystem, will mean the survival of thousands of individual species. No coral reef ecosystem can exist without being impacted by what happens in other parts of the globe. The coral reef ecosystem is vital to the health of all life forms that live within it.
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